Exhibitions. Woo. Yay.
By: chris | March 26th, 2008
Spain 1 – Azzurri 0
It wasn’t a good game, it wasn’t a bad game. It was just sort of….eh. A performance befitting a meaningless game. No great revelations either, except that maybe kinda sorta perhaps Marco Materazzi isn’t starting material anymore (he was thisclose to a red in fricken friendly for throwing his hand at a ball in the box); the guy isn’t exactly the king of good decision making. Other than that, no real spectacular performances in either direction. Though a few guys were good (if some of this is off – blame it on the liveblogging, it’s nearly impossible to judge a game accurately while popping back and forth):
Cannavaro: In the first half he was very good, and really held that back line in check throughout a ton of pressure. However, the poor clearance is what led to David Villa’s goal, which isn’t good. Actually (Milan fans should skip the rest of the section), it quite reminds of that poor clearance Paolo Maldini had in the derby which led to Cambiasso’s goal. Old men can’t do headers, I guess.
Grosso: Sergio Ramos had a field day on the left for the first 20 minutes of the game before Fab Gross settled down and really made an impact going in both directions.
De Rossi: Well more evident in the second half when Pirlo was on the pine and he took over as the playmaker sitting back with Ivan. Long range left footer to Di Natale and the one-two with Camo for highlights. Filled that 10 shirt well.
Buffon: Alright, someone did have a spectacular game, but that’s his norm. So, you know. No way at fault for Villa’s goal.
Camoranesi: His engine ran for a full 90 minutes, especially in the last 15, when he won numerous spot kicks seemingly on will alone. Hiwever, he really should’ve scored that point blank chance. In real games, those can be decisive.
Other than that, little to discuss. Luca Toni’s goal was apparently canceled because of a Canna foul, which is quite lame. There were obviously few (or no) tactical subs, and most were basically like for like (with the glaring exception of Pirlo’s yin for Gattuso’s yang). Marco Borriello looked good in stretches and seemed on the verge of being the difference maker a few times, so that should help his case as the vice-Luca when Swissaustria comes rolling around.
Chances are the next friendly will look nothing like this one, so it was a good watch and that’s about that.
Highlights
When available
Category: Azzurri
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Comments
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Gotta disagree about DDR. Even after Pirlo was subbed off, he was nowhere near the player he is for Roma.
Camo was our best player out there, Grosso was so much better than I expected, and Barzagli played like a man who knows he just went up for sale.
Posted from
Canada
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I’m a DDR fan but he was atrocious – the lowlight of the team, for me. I hope he’s not taking a page from his mentor and second-rating the national team… no game for your national team should *ever* be considered meaningless – if you don’t want to play there’s a bunch of guys who will take the game as the serious honor it is.
Pirlo continues to have this wretched stretch, but I think that he should be playing as the real #10 and shouldn’t have to spend so much time on defensive duties.
Otherwise it wasn’t such a bad game and we’ve certainly got talent to burn but we missed some really good chances and could have been sharper. I don’t think it’s reasonable to call for Donadoni’s head based on a decent away outing against one of the more talented teams around.
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United States -
but these games do well to your confidence
donadoni is stupid … he should have played his best team, trough out the whole game …. fact is, he still has no idea whats going on
anyone see grossos tackel from behind =) … loved it
Posted from
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There were plenty of moments – maybe not the overall game – where he was very good. Maybe I just looked up at all the right times.
tito, they are meaningless when some of them have Serie A to worry about over the weekend. They’re athletes, not machines (minus Gattuso).
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If athletes have more pressing engagements than playing 100% for their national team, then they should most certainly attend to them and make way for those less encumbered or better focused.
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DDR!?!?!?!?
C’mon chris. There’s a bit of favortism (sp?) there. :)
He was invisible the whole game. He didn’t hold that #10 well at all. Sorry.
Personally, my best are Camo and Grosso. And maybe Gigi.
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United States -
why did Pirlo sometimes look like he only knew how to pass sideways? lack of quality crossing from wide is somewht worrying. It pains me to accept it, but DDR was disappointing. If players do not want to give their best in friendlies, what’s the point? Also, didnt note how Aquilani did when he came on. anything good that i missed? Someone please feed Pirlo or put him on oxygen or smth. I just dont see the azzuri being near their best without Pirlo on form.
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Like I said, it’s nearly impossible to watch a game in any amount of detail and liveblog. I’m not kidding when I say I must’ve looked up at all the right times.
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Bonnie – Barzagli continues to show up for the national team while failing to do so for his club team…it’s ridiculous…
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It was a good match but I dont think we really pushed ourselves. Despite the goal and not winning it was a solid performance by everyone and some stellar ones by Camo and Grosso. Pirlo was his old self as well and I love Buffon. DDR wasnt horrible but you have to understand that this was a friendly so do you expect hard tackles and such??? We had a good 20 minutes in the second half without Pirlo which was a great move by the Don since we need to see how we can play without Pirlo (you know that man can get injured) and when to tinker with the team if not in a friendly …
It was an alright match
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http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4v14p_spain-italy-wwwfutvolgoleses-26308_fun
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United States -
Lorenzo, I totally understand, Pirlo does the same thing. He wasn’t at his best yesterday but he was miles from how he’s been playing for Milan lately.
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Interestingly, goal.com gave De Rossi the lowest rating it gave any player on the Italian side. It also had about the exact opposite write up on his showing.
It also, unsurprisingly gave Matrix an above average grade for winning all the high defensive challenges.
I am pretty sure Goal.com could care less about Italian players. I know for a fact that Chris hates Inter and loves Roma (and DDR in particular)
What should one make of this?
From Goal.com: “De Rossi: 5: Perhaps Italy’s biggest disappointment on the night. De Rossi gave the ball away far too often, and was lazy at times. I would say he was saving himself for Roma.”
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just for laughs…
Goal.com:
“Materazzi – 6: Has been dreadful for Inter in recent weeks, but tonight he sound. Won everything in the air, and made one brilliant tackle following Buffon’s save from Torres. Subbed at half time.”Posted from
United States -
MAD, what you should make of it is that you’re a shit-stirrer and look for angles. Bout it. Congrats.
And if you’re sourcing goal.com, well, I don’t know what to tell you. They have the same credibility as a dirty diaper.
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For anyone interested, Gazzetta in English has a great article up today on “Italy’s World Cup Spirit”. Have a read here.
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I fully understand the troubles of liveblogging, and giving an accurate description of the game.
That’s why I try to stay away from it. ;)
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And just to clarify, DDR was not terrible, MUCH better than Materazzi, but he wasn’t up to his usual standards, completely understandable with the week he’s got coming.
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I gotta agree with the masses here, even if I have a Roma scarf hanging in my bedroom, I have an Azzurri on another wall. DDR wasn’t nearly as instrumental in the white away shirt as he is in the one with the cell phone logo on it. I was hoping for much more, but it seems evident that his focus is on next week.
On the Azzurri side, Camo was MOTM for me. Hustled his ass off up and down the field and really gave his all. Grosso wasn’t half bad, either. Materazzi Reloaded was crapulous. Another yellow on Torres?
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United States -
Shit-stirrer?
I forget, was it me that posted:
“Totti > ADP” or “Totti = Jesus” or “Suazo holds up two fingers so that Inter fans know what the score is” or “Inter beats Reggina thanks to a (false) penalty”? Or any other number of sad attempts to seem edgy and tribal.
No? Well, the guy that wrote that shit is definitely looking to stir some shit up. Bet.
Or, become some kind of… “shit-stirrer” or something… y’know whatever that is.“…look for angles” –I have no idea what this means.
By the way, since you took over this job you had people telling you that you’re a biased hack. I certainly wasn’t and judging from this page still not alone.
This post is a great example. About half of the posts here that aren’t me actually quoting an outside source (GOAL.com has no love for anything not EPL, other than that it’s no more reliable than any other sports mag online or otherwise) or you defending your lame worship are people telling you that you are wrong or biased. Here’s some advise that you gave me (only I won’t be as arrogant to demand as you were): I suggest that you deal with it. acting gracious or humble would be far to much to ask, I realize.
By the way, here’s another source for you: mCalcio.com. These guys usually have nothing but positive things to say to all things Azzurri. In this instance they had nothing good to say about “DDR” (they did criticize Perotta for that matter. That guy is a menace) except that he “and Pirlo were tripping over each other’s feet.” which somehow didn’t hamper Pirlo from “being his distributer best” .
Oddly that was ALL they had to say about DDR. They certainly didn’t say anything about,”Filled that 10 shirt well.” But then, I guess that I have a habit out of quoting THINGS that have the credibility of a, “… dirty diaper.”
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United States -
If you took one minute, perhaps more, processed things a bit and read back (something you’ve had an issue with before – assuming wrongly, using inaccurate information, etc.) you’d get your answers without sitting here and attempting to discredit me.
Now, please, and I ask you this nicely, use your brain when you come in here and try to blindly take down this page. It doesn’t reflect well on anyone, quite frankly. Certainly not Serie A fans.
(Also, it appears you didn’t watch the game – using various sources for a summation. If you had, you would know De Rossi played 90 mins and Pirlo only the first 45 and that I said “Well more evident in the second half when Pirlo was on the pine”. Again, please think.)
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United States -
So I just read back on mCalcio (a valued reader here who is a “he” not a “they”). Here’s what he said:
“De Rossi and Pirlo were stepping a bit over each other’s toes”
Here’s what you said:
“and Pirlo were tripping over each other’s feet.”
which aren’t really close. And there is no relation to DDR and Pirlo’s magic, it was actually “Pirlo got to work with his distribution magic”. De Rossi wasn’t even mentioned in the same paragraph.
In fact, the preceding sentence on your “De Rossi tripping” argument says “re-established the Azzurri’s tactical equilibrium”, which is correct. De Rossi can and does act as a playmaker, whereas Gattuso is not. Two playmakers sitting side by side can equal “stepping on each other’s toes a bit.”
Please stop making things up in an attempt to discredit me. Seriously. I’m not even going to go into the first sentences involving Suazo and Inter’s game against “Reggina” (which I was not here for) which are both wrong. If you’re going to source, source correctly.
You look for ways to have a problem with me (there is no argument against this – you come here and botch information so that it fits your argument). Cool. Do it elsewhere. I’m readily accessible.
Posted from
United States
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